kly serve the purpose of covering a wall with color; but it lacked the brilliance of the more laborious Mosaic. The interior of the Sanctuary contains a dome that is decorated by a sensational medallion that resembles medallions found in carpets of north-western Iran. The two oratories alongside the Sanctuary contain the same motif in the domed vaults. There are two courts each with their own pool. The Mosque is beautifully decorated with a wide range of colors. The entrance portal is covered with a mosaic of many colored pieces cut from larger pieces and fitted together to form complex patterns. It has been estimated that 18 million bricks and half a million tiles were used in the building of the Shah Mosque. These were the principal buildings of Shah Abbas’s reign. In the short span of his reign, Isfahan had been transformed into a great metropolis of its time. Abbas was successful in his attempt to create a city that could compare to the great cities of Christendom, and the beauty of Isfahan and the buildings he constructed will be studied and admired forever. BibliographyBlunt, Wilfrid. Isfahan, Pearl of Persia. (New York: Stein and Day Publishers, 1966.) 208 pgs.Bloom, Jonathan and Sheila Blair. Islamic Arts. (London: Phaidon Press, 1997.) 446 Pgs. ...
